1912!
by sandmanproductions
Summary: A story of an American red revolution in 1912 and how it effects the rest of the world and turns into a kaiserreich style civil war I also drew inspiration from other franchises these include fallout, last of us, the purge, and to a much lesser extent star wars (legends). There will be some oc's but these are there to ease the flow of world building and will take a backseat.
1. Chapter 1 exposition dump

_A synopsis of the rise of columbia and understanding the origins of the 2nd american civil war_

The 2nd american civil war began in the aftermath of the siege of columbia in 1912, while the two day siege was perhaps the single bloodiest event of the war, the civil war that followed was one of, if not the most, tragic periods in American history. Violence and cruelty became commonplace in the 9 years that followed, immigrant hopes and dreams of a new life turned to dust and faded away as truth in speech and history was denied, and the spirit of liberty perished as the great hope for democracy was crushed. The revolutionary movement was ruled by a small group of radical parties who understood only to well that if they were ever going to have a chance of surviving they would have to be ruthless, those who opposed these radicals understood that they would irrevocably change america. The struggle between these factions shaped the new socialist state and it's later development, millions were killed or crippled while hundreds of thousands fled the nation never to return.

The causes of the 2nd civil war were deeply rooted in American history, the 1st civil war caused desperate suffering among the american people but other long standing issues were just as important. For centuries black workers were tied to land they did not own and forced to work for others, in 1861 only two "civilized" nations allowed one man to own another and force him to work against his will, the united states and russia, but even after emancipation vestiges of the old system continued to plague the vast majority of the black population whose prospects for land and education remained severely limited. For Howard Taft who became president in 1909, the desire for many of his citizens for radical changes in government were impossible to accept, his and later president Mike hak's stalling and corruption plagued america and contributed to the revolutionaries legitimacy. In order to understand how the socialists gained such a strong following in america we have to go back several years.

In 1893 the world's Columbian exposition was hosted in Chicago, it was a gathering of the greatest technological feats the world had ever seen, but one exhibit stood out above the rest, america's magnificent fleet of airships. The result of the inexhaustible determination and vision of one man, Zachary Comstock, A self-proclaimed prophet who championed the founding fathers with an almost religious fervor, his founders cult started when Comstock, through his connections in Congress, convinced the american government to build up his movement and fund his idea of having a mighty fleet of airships to uphold Christian and American values and share them with the world. The government, intending to have this fleet serve as a floating world's fair and as a display to the rest of the world of the success american exceptionalism, agreed to this request, Zachary then met Nikola Tesla who improved upon Comstock's airship design (particularly by adding an electric engine and providing a non-flammable method of lift), the two worked together and the airship fleet was created in 1892.

After the fanfare and publicity of the world's Columbian exposition, the air fleet was dispatched to distant shores, travelling from continent to continent, the fleet traveled around the world to showcase american ideals and glory while Comstock, being the chief spokesperson of this propaganda campaign became increasingly popular in the states, mainly due to the exploits of his founders following. During the construction period of the fleet Comstock started a new religion expounding some Christian and American values, but which also contained elements of racism, elitism, xenophobia, and laissez-faire business practices, segregation was prominent in the founders cult and other religions were persectuted. Being responsible for coordinating such boons as resplendent beautification of cities, advanced electronic technology (such as radio's, intercoms, voxophones, elevators, vending machines and animatronics) advanced city rail infrastructure, mass producing factories, advanced weapon technology, and huge leaps in science and medicine, in those cities that had accepted his following which by this time had become a cult of personality, Comstock's way was, for a time the pride of america, but rising tensions with the new McKinley administration was building.

In 1901 that tension boiled over as the founder loyalist columbia airfleet, against the wishes of the united states, put a violent end to the boxer rebellion in peking China, this event revealed the fleet to be a heavily armed armada capable of unleashing devastation across the world, Congress demanded the air fleets immediate return to sovereign soil, instead an outraged Comstock declared "Columbia's sovereignty from sodom" now under the protection of the Columbia airfleet the founder cult and those cities loyal to it all but secceeded from the union, guarding their land borders and connected by the airlines of the fleet, they declared themselves the free state of columbia. Free from outside influence Comstock now had complete control over several cities transforming them Into a theocratic police state.

After McKinley's assassination in 1901 the new roosevelt administration not wanting to risk all out war with the founders (given that it was woefully unprepared for such a thing) simply adopted a live and let live policy, though clandestinely infiltrated the founders cult through his progressive party and tried to undermine it from within, ironically leading to groups like the vox populi gaining momentum and power as progressive agents helped to properly organize and coordinate such groups. Under Comstock's rule which started in 1901, the Columbian cities became militant pseudo-christian utopian societies that worshipped him as a divine prophetic figure and the founding fathers of the united states as religious icons, despite these apparent utopian exteriors it was clearly a gilded dystopia, institutional racism and elitism were widespread in the cities with white supremacy of the upper and middle classes heavily enforced by the Comstock government as law. Despite the drive for racial purity in the state of columbia people of minority races were purposely brought into the cities to exploit as a source of cheap labor, they were the collective underclass of columbia and commonly served as indentured servants, as a result of this subjugation minorities were largely relegated to menial and hard labor with no obvious opportunity for upward mobility. Racial segregation was also heavily enforced within the cities to the point where interracial couples faced the risk of public stoning.

The decisive moment of socialism's survival in america arguably came in Portland maine 1895 when one daisy fitzroy was wrongfully accused of lady Comstock's death, she subsequently fled to the factory town of finkton, there she formed the vox populi which first began as a protest group and confederation of working class citizens and oppressed groups, but as it became more organized it's members grew more militant. Driven underground by the founders response, the vox movement eventually abandoned it's ways in favor of retaliatory violence against the founders. Had it not been for the founders and their extremism during the already turbulent times of the gilded age the socialist movement likely would have died down when world war 1 broke out in Europe. America easily could have provided food and munitions for both sides, which would have brought more money into america as well as giving the country a controlling interest in world affairs in the post war world, this would have created confidence in the legitimacy of the capitalist system. As it stands the socialists were seen as the antithesis to the founders, fighting their injustices at every step they certainly gained the sympathy of many impoverished citizens as they opposed the founders when the government did not, with the vox populi in particular being the most popular as it was the most vocal, proactive, and inclusive of all the socialist groups. The Taft administration maintained the live and let live policy, first started by roosevelt who only intended to maintain the policy until he could build up a proper military force to challenge the founders. Taft was content with only increasing the number of national Guards but made no attempts to modernize them, this fateful decision would give the socialist militants equal ground in the coming war.


	2. Expo dump part 2

Organization type: military resistance movement

Founding document: chicago treaty, declaration of revolution

Constitution: declaration of independence, I.W.W constitution

Head of state: William D.(Big Bill)Haywood

Head of government: Eugene V. Debs

Commander-in-chief: Premier Daniel De Leon(until 1914), William D.(Big Bill)Haywood (until 1917), James Larkin

De facto leader: William D.(Big Bill)Haywood

Executive branch: Civil Governor James Connolly(until 1910), David C. Coates of the Civil Government

Legislative branch: General Secretary William trautman of the Advisory Council

Military branch: Liberating army of races and peoples

Capital: Chicago, Washington DC, New York City, Fort Sumner, Oakland(California), Black Hills forest, Detroit, Portland Maine

Official language: none at federal level

Currency: none at federal level

Official holiday: National unity day, Rembrance day

Formed from: Universal Negro Party, Vox Populi, Red Associators, Okla humma resistance movement, the "red eyes" bonus army, socialist party of america, industrial workers of the world, galleanists, ghadar party, socialist labor party, workers international industrial union, workers federation of miners, M5 anarchists of 1916, national association for the advancement of colored people, communist party usa, African blood brotherhood, farmers labor party, workers Council of the united states, workers party of america, international brotherhood of teamsters

Date established: 1905

Date reorganized: 1921

The United Front, also Known as the United Front to Restore the Union, was a large alliance of leftist parties that were generally united in common cause against a common enemy in the form of the founders and later the united states government, in order to achieve their primary goal of abolishing the "constitutional" government and "restoring the union as it was under lincoln and grant and creating a state dedicated to the principles of the declaration of independence." The United Front was founded alongside the iww in Chicago 1905 by a conventional gathering of popular labor parties and leaders, it's founding documents were the Chicago treaty and the declaration of revolution, while its constitution was the same one adopted by the iww.

The United Front's emblem was a hybridization of the socialist party of America and the nascent iww emblems as these were the two largest member parties present at its founding. **(Those present at the founding were Lucy Parsons, Helen Keller, Joe Hill, Ben Fletcher, Ralph Chaplin, Arturo Giovannitti, Ricardo Flores Magón, James P. Cannon, James Connolly, Jim Larkin, Big Bill Haywood, Eugene V. Debs, Eugene O'Neill, Joseph Ettor, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, Daniel De Leon, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, William Z. Foster, Monty Miller, Vincent R. Dunne, Indian Nationalist Lala Hardayal, Fritz Wolffheim, A.M. Stirton, Frank Little, ACLU founder Roger Nash Baldwin, Minnesota Governor Floyd B. Olson, Australian poet Lesbia Harford, Journalist John Reed, Folk musician Harry McClintock, Finnish folk music singer Hiski Salomaa, Catholic Workers Dorothy Day and Ammon Hennacy, Former lieutenant governor of Colorado David C. Coates, Emma Goldman, Black Panther Party leader Marcus Garvey, Henry McNeal Turner, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Black Panther Party Co-founder Harriet Tubman, Daisy Fitzroy, Red Associators Chief of Staff, Okla humma resistance founder "Geronimo", Luigi Galleani, W.E.B Du Bois, and "red eyes" bonus army leader Smedley Butler)**. Big Bill Haywood would provide leadership in military affairs, James Connolly would govern the noncombatant members, Daniel De Leon was responsible for propaganda, Eugene Debs would be responsible for overall leadership, Thomas Hagerty drafted the constitution and would be responsible for maintaining the interrelation of the member parties, Lucy Parsons was responsible for organizing the militias of the united front into a cohesive force and providing them with practical targets, Mary Harris jones would provide uniforms and educate it's rank and file members, Frank bohn was responsible for foreign policy and affairs, William Trautman was the general Secretary of the united front, he wrote the iww manifesto and was responsible for administration of the movement via his publications, Vincent saint John essentially filled the role that William Trautman had as general Secretary this arrangement caused both men little distress as Trautman was more of a writer and John was a natural leader, Ralph Chaplin wrote songs about significant members and events in the movements history and played a crucial role in forming an alliance between the united front and Emiliano Zapata. Initially the progressive bull moose party would secretly fund the united front, providing arms, medical experts and Lawyers, in the opening days of the conflict after the fall of columbia, virtually all of the united Front's war plans, uprisings, and operations were crushed by state forces, this was mainly due to the fact that the red militants were out manned and outgunned by the well organized and powerful american military. The United Front would go on from conventionally fighting the american government to using hit-and-run tactics designed to harass federal infrastructure and operations the united front would also adopt the stateless strategy, a strategy were they wouldn't have a clearly defined territory, this meant that the united front could perform an attack then retreat into the back country, in other words they were always on the move. As the United Front started to have some major victories more and more people would support its cause, one notable ally were the German pow's caught on the high seas, they would use their naval experience to provide the united front with an Overseas smuggling operation. After the fiasco of the Mike hawk appointment and major victories in the battles of Philadelphia, Detroit, and Chicago in 1917 hundreds of thousands would openly join the united front, these events would go on to make the Liberating army a legitimate military opponent to the US armed forces. Regardless the united front would face many setbacks, one would be when the red Associators founder and chief of staff threatened to leave the united front after arguing with Bill Haywood over his reckless tactics and overuse of suicide missions which killed off many red Associator leaders. The RA founder would then go on to perform his own independent military campaign against the wishes of the united front, other setbacks included Daniel De Leon's death in 1914 and James Connolly leaving his post to return Ireland in 1910 as well as Eugene Debs imprisonment in 1920, these events meant that bill Haywood was frequently left as sole leader of the united front. Despite these setbacks the united front would eventually engage their enemies in the decisive battles of San Francisco and the 4th burning of Washington DC in 1920 which saw the destruction of the last federal remnant fortresses and the deaths of the enclave and NFFA leadership, after this massive victory the united front would go on to become the american federation of socialist republics a year later. The United front military structure was designed by the red Associators Chief of Staff who combined his military experience with his obsession for military history and tactics to aid in setting up its command structure. James Larkin served as its Premier from 1917 onwards, the Liberating army of peoples and races was separated into two distinct branches, the revolutionary socialist guard and county brigades. The county brigades were semi-autonomaus military units that were responsible for maintaining the revolution on local levels, they basically were larger and more organized cells that worked with the united front and would resist the federals within the Counties that was their dedicated area of operation. Each County brigades numbers and equipment would vary but at the outset they would usually consist of around 1500 men per city, usually organized into three battalions which were stationed In the counties (they maintained these forces in the wilderness in camps that used the ludlow tent colony as model) surrounding strategic cities to the north, west, and east of said cities. Each brigade answered to a regional command which had quartermasters attached on brigade, battalion, company, and squad (or locals as the wobblies referred to them) levels, The county brigades would mainly use guerilla warfare tactics when fighting their enemies. All together the county brigades were the largest arm of united Front's armed forces, although an exact number is not known there were probably a few million to a few hundred million members under this branch spread across thousands of counties. Unlike the county brigades the revolutionary socialist guard were directly controlled by the united front command, this included the standing army, the airship fleet, and the motorized corps, the standing army was a small but powerful ground force maintained by the united front command, unlike the their counterparts the united front intentionally recruited from the large diversity of nationalities in america which gave the Liberating army different languages, cultures, and backgrounds. The revolutionaries also enjoyed a distinct advantage in field leadership as the federal army only ever had 4000 commissioned officers during the war, where as the Liberating army had atleast one elected officer for every company, battalion, and brigade in the country to put this into perspective one American square division (which consisted on average of around 28,900 combatants) would need at least 48 commissioned officers to function rapidly and effectively against a smaller, quicker, paramilitary force, the federal army had about 267 divisions total, This large power vacuum in the federal army meant that their opponents generally tended to outperform them especially in low intensity warfare. Due to the fact that the united front would almost always be outnumbered in battle they utilised hit-and-run tactics, united front commanders would strike at the weakest point to destroy enemy morale, during defensive operations certain army units would screen and harass an enemy armies approach while larger forces either set up fortified defenses or withdrew, extended conventional defensive battles could not be maintained due to lack of resources, thus such battles would always result in the federal army overwhelming their socialist counterparts with superior numbers. Most vehicles in the 2nd civil war tended to be lighter and faster than those seen on the western front of europe due to a number of factors, first was that the vast majority of the nation's factories were comprehensively destroyed during the siege of columbia and remained priory targets for bomb raids, this meant that no heavy weapons could be realistically mass produced, second was that at 68,773 produced, the most widely available vehicle In the country was the ford model t, third was Pershing who never really saw the value of airpower or tanks, did not believe in trench warfare, and emphasized rifle and bayonet in doctrine, and believed infantry and morale were key to victory, and fourth was that aside from coastal guns there was no real artillery to speak of in america which rendered heavy armor and thick fortifications redundant. Most of these vehicles were the aforementioned model t's outfitted with armor and machine guns others included armored trains which served as siege engines and carried what little artillery existed across the country, jeffrey quads which were first used during the pancho villa expedition served as armored trucks and transport vehicles for the federal army and we're the second most used armored car during the war, and the american take on the ft Renault Tankette which was produced in sizable numbers at the rock island arsenal the only factory to remain in federal hands until 1917.


	3. Anatomy of the Liberating army of races

The Liberating Army of Races and Peoples or L.A.R.P was separated into two distinct branches, the revolutionary socialist guard and chapter brigades. The chapter brigades members were drawn from the many parties who formed the united front, they were civilians who independently organized to form well-prepared irregular units. Self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies they were semi-autonomaus military units that were responsible for maintaining the rebellion on local levels throughout the country during the guerrilla years from 1912 after the siege of columbia up until the declaration of a socialist republic in November of 1919.

The Chapter brigades were large and organized underground cells that were the only paramilitary wing of the united front up until the formation of the R.S.G in 1916 and would resist the federals within their Chapter region mainly by using guerrilla warfare tactics. Each chapter brigades numbers and equipment would vary but the standard model was supposed to consist of around 1500 members at maximum and each was expected to be able to fight. The chapter's overall leadership was decided at the general army convention, which would elect a 12 member army Executive, this in turn would select 7 volunteers to form the Army Council. Authority would be vested in the army Council on an ad hoc basis for internal policy direction and making major tactical decisions in order to address major events that occurred during the guerrilla years. The army Council was also responsible for appointing a chief-of-staff from one of its own number, this individual would appoint an adjutant general and general headquarters which had one Head for each of the following departments Armory, Finance, Engineering, Training, Intelligence, Publicity, Operations, and Security.

Organization structure of chapter's was divided as follows

Soldier council: squad sized group of 5 to 8 people, 3 Council's made a local union and fulfilled a primary combat role, elected their own officers who in turn would hand pick members from the Council's to undergo professional training from military officers or veterans (when such personell were available) in specialised "training bands", we're armed by the chapter quartermaster.

Local unions: company sized group of roughly 170 people often just referred to as locals, 3 locals made a federation had a command structure of an elected officer, local quartermaster, explosives officer, Intelligence officer, training officer, Finance officer.

Federations: battalion sized group of roughly 480 people, 3 Federations made a chapter and each federation operated in a county north, west, and South of the city they were responsible for, each federation had a command structure of an elected commanding officer, federation quartermaster, explosives officer, Intelligence officer, training officer, Finance officer.

Regional commands:lead the chapter brigades of which there were 1500 people, had a command structure of an elected officer commanding, adjutant, chapter quartermaster.

All together the chapter brigades were the largest arm of the L.A.R.P, although an exact number is not known there were probably a few million to a few hundred million members under this branch spread across the country. Unlike the Chapter brigades, the Revolutionary Socialist Guard were directly controlled by the united front general staff and it's members were mainly comprised of people with a military background. These included the Canadian "Seaforth Highlanders" regiment, the Chinese American "Red Dragon" legion, Vox Populi veterans of the 1912 siege, the members of the red Associators elite Republican guard, as well as a small number of former american military personnel mainly people of minority background. This branch was founded by Smedley Butler and was a small professional force by comparison of the chapter brigades and it generally did not take the initiative or act independently of the united Front's chain of command, although it used a similar organization structure and nomenclature of the chapters. The R.S.G. also operated differently where as the chapter's would use guerilla tactics the guards would engage in more conventional warfare, there was however a mutually beneficial relationship between the R.S.G. and the chapter brigades. The R.S.G. would provide military advisors for training of heavy equipment and the brigades would offer themselves as a Fifth column force for wherever the R.S.G. operated.


End file.
